


Santa Claus is Coming to Texas

by robotjellyfish



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas fic, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Krolia is consfused about Earth holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 03:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17134340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotjellyfish/pseuds/robotjellyfish
Summary: When Krolia learns of the entity knows as Santa Claus she is immediately on guard. A man who spies on the human race and then breaks into their homes during the night hardly seems like a doer of good. Now that she has a family, a loving husband and sweet baby boy, it's up to her to protect them from this danger.





	Santa Claus is Coming to Texas

**Author's Note:**

> I will be calling Keith's dad Akira in this fic, since the show didn't deem to give him a name and I have no idea what the fandom consensus for a name it. Akira is a nice nod to old Voltron though, so I figure I'd go with that. Enjoy, and happy holidays to y'all.

“And this man travels across the world, breaking into everyone’s homes, and you just...let him?” Krolia trailed off and a deep crease formed along her brow from the strength of her frown. She didn’t want to outright call the human race foolish, and risk offending her husband, but the behaviour hardly seemed sensible.   
  
Akira reached for her hand, large, callous fingers wrapping around hers, strong and comforting. “That’s what he does. How else will he deliver all those presents?” He explained patiently, tone jovial and unconcerned, apparently oblivious to the dangers of allowing a stranger free access to the home.   
  
“But why does he give out these gifts in the first place?” She demanded urgently, his rugged smile and warm hands offered little reassurance. Why did he not understand just how dangerous this situation was? In the moses basket at her side, Keith fussed, grumbling in his sleep, and she squeezed her husbands hand tighter.   
  
“It’s what’s Christmas is all about,” he smiled, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand soothingly, eye softening as they moved over to the sleeping baby. This was his son's first Christmas, their first Christmas as a family. “It's all about the spirit of giving and coming together. And everyone loves presents, especially kids.”   
  
Krolia’s scowl deepened. “And yet you only receive a present if you appease him.”  
  
Akira laughed so hard that tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. (He was not taking this seriously.) “Darling, all he asks is that people are good. I think that’s pretty reasonable, don't you?” He smiled encouragingly, full of cheer and warmth.   
  
It was no use. Krolia sighed and shook her head. “I suppose.” Evidently, it would take more than her pointing out the insidious nature of the man called ‘Santa Claus’ to make him see sense, but that did not mean she would give up. She had a family now, a husband and a child, and she would do everything in her power to protect them.   
  
Firstly, she needed to gather intel. A recon mission would prove tricky. Not only was the man notoriously elusive, but there was also Keith to consider. She rocked the baby in her arms, cooing softly nonsense words to him as she tried to formulate a plan. She couldn't leave him, not when this man was at large, and she couldn't risk taking him either her either.   
  
Keith stared up at her with big violet eyes, oddly quiet as if he sensed her inner turmoil. He didn't even babble back to her as she spoke.   
  
“Do you want to help mama catch this Santa?” she cooed, pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head, fine, fluffy black hair tickling her nose.   
  
The baby babbled and let out a sharp, high laugh his face lighting up in a smile.   
  
“That's my boy! Don't worry. I won't let him leave you any of those so-called presents.” She said firmly, and Keith laughed again, raising his little hands in tight first.   
  
Krolia laughed and held him tighter. She wouldn't let this Santa win.   


* * *

  
  
Her first port of call would be the internet, a vast network of resources that anyone could access freely. It was really quite impressive, considering the relative infancy of the human race. Surely, there, she would find something to aid her mission.   
  
However, hours of searching and reading proved futile. The vast majority of the stories she found painted the man in a positive light, and any attempts to prove the man's existence or track him down all seemed to end in failure. Keith slept in the sling against her chest for the most part, but he soon grew hungry and fussy. It was impossible, and pointless, to continue.   
  
So she left the computer, fed and changed Keith, and then told him stories of far-flung worlds where no all-powerful beings spied on people and broke into their houses.  
  
After that, she turned to media. There were countless films about the man in the red suit, enough that she should at least be able to pick up something useful.   
  
Over the next few days, she watched as many as she could, with Keith by her side in his basket. He would sometimes smile and laugh at the songs that played, or when he heard a noise that drew his attention, but for the most part, he slept through them, waking only when he was hungry. It was easy for her to while away the hours like this, watching the movie and occasionally scribbling notes in-between feeding, changing, and playing with her son.   
  
But it quickly became apparent that these too would prove useless. Every one had the same thing in common, the man in red was portrayed as some harmless, hapless fool, who often required the help of some innocent child he roped in to help him fix his mess. On the rare occasion, anyone tried to oppose him, they were the villain, and were always defeated.   
  
Propaganda! All of it! She felt her blood boil, and soon she couldn't stand to watch any more of the bright 'feel good' movies. The human race had been brainwashed, cowed with stories of his powers, and lied to through countless, easily accessible films and TV programmes. It was no wonder they couldn't see how truly malevolent the man was.  
  
“This is worse than I thought,” she muttered to Keith. His tiny fingers were curled around one of her own, and he tugged her finger to his mouth, chewing on it with soft gums. He gurgled at her. She smiled.   
  
“My brave little man. You're right. I can't give up, and your father doesn't see the danger we're in. I have to protect him too.” She said softly, lifting her other hand to stroke the baby's rosy cheek. He was so small, and soft, impossibly fragile. It made her heart ache with love.   
  
Keith laughed and squeezed her finger tighter. 

 

* * *

  
  
Christmas eve was her best bet. Tracking down the man would be an arduous task, and all of her research so far had proved rather pointless, but on Christmas eve the man himself would come to them. It was the perfect opportunity. She only had to bide her time, and prepare.   
  
Two weeks before Christmas they decorated the cabin together, her, Akira and Keith, though Keith spent most of that time asleep in his basket. They put a tree up in the living room, hung pretty, sparkly things from it, and draped the room in lights and more decorations.   
  
Krolia didn't really understand the point of it all, although Akira tried to explain it to her. It was a tradition, apparently, and although she found it strange to bring a tree into the house and hang things off it, there was a beauty in it too. The decorations were lovely, and the twinkling fairy lights soft and warm. Sat in their living room with her husband and son, surrounded by it all, she felt a warmth wrap around her, one that swelled in her heart. She didn't understand it, but it was a pleasant feeling. She thought she could like Christmas, if only she could deal with the threat of that man, Santa.   
  
As the fated night drew closer, she prepared. Traps were set, and she religiously studied the layout of the cabin and everything in it. She kept this all from Akira, of course, who would only have stopped her, but soon she would make him see sense.   
  
They went to bed early on Christmas Eve. Even Keith went down without any trouble. She had whispered all of her plans to him, though she didn't expect him to understand any of them, of course, perhaps he at least sensed her urgency and knew that he needed to sleep.   
  
“Good night little man. If you stay asleep all night, Santa will bring you lots of presents.” Akira promised in a low whisper, bending over the cot to brush his hand against the baby's head. He carefully adjusted the blanket over Keith and stooped lower to kiss the baby's cheek before moving away.   
  
“And you too. You gotta sleep or else Santa won't bring you any presents,” he teased Krolia, who sat on the edge of their bed, watching.   
  
She shook her head and laughed, going along with it. “Yes, dear.”   
  
He stopped in front of her and bent down to kiss her too before they climbed into bed together, wrapped up in each other embrace.   
  
Krolia pretended to sleep, and she waited. Akira, as usually, fell asleep quickly, and deeply, and Keith did not stir for the first few hours. In fact, there was no noise, or hint of anyone else. When would he arrive?   
  
At some late hour or the night (or perhaps it was early in the morning), Akira woke and got out of bed, probably to go to the bathroom. Krolia quickly feigned sleep again and waited for his return.   
  
He was taking a while. She waited longer, her ears straining to pick up any unusual sounds. She heard Keith shift restlessly in his cot, a sign he would probably wake soon, and she heard her husband's footsteps shuffling about, trying to be quiet (in the living room?), but nothing more.   
  
Something was off.   
  
She sat up in bed, eyes darting about, searching the room. There was no one else there, and Keith's cot was safely tucked away in the corner. Silently she climbed out of bed and padded barefoot over to his crib. He was safe.   
  
But where was Akira? It shouldn't take him this long to go to the bathroom. She made for the door, staying to the shadows, moving silently. She could hear his footsteps, rustling, and then a cry of alarm.   
  
Grabbing her knife, she activated the blade and charged from the bedroom to the living room. It had to be Santa. He'd somehow managed to sneak past her traps, and now Akira-  
  
She stopped, blade held aloft.   
  
“Uh, hi darling. Mind cutting me down?”   
  
Akira hung upside-down from the ceiling, dangling from one of her rope traps. He wore a ridiculous red suit along with a curly white beard. A red hat lay on the floor beneath him.   
  
“You're Santa?” She blinked, staring.   
  
“Not exactly. I can explain, but the blood is kinda rushing to my head...”   
  
With a flick of her wrist, she cut the ropes binding him with her blade, and he fell to the floor with a thump and a muffled oof.   
  
“You see, Santa isn't exactly real,” he groaned, untangling himself from the ropes. He sat up, and Krolia crouched down in front

of him, scowling.   
  
“Not real?”   
  
“Yeah, he's just a story. It's supposed to be a happy story, for the kids. Make 'em believe in magic and all that.”   
  
“How does telling them about a man who spies on them all year and then breaks into their house make them believe in magic?” she demanded, eyebrow raised.   
  
“It just..does,” Akira shrugged sheepishly.   
  
He looked utterly ridiculous in that outfit, the fabric cheap and ill-fitting, and the fake white beard an odd contrast against his youthful face and dark hair. He still hadn't told her why he was wearing it.   
  
Before she could ask the sharp sound of Keith's cries reached them, and they both hurried to the bedroom to check on him.   
  
Akira lifted the baby out of the cot and rocked him in his arms singing one of those Christmas songs that played incessantly this time of year. (Apparently, it was normal to have music that was played only at a certain time of year, and then played non-stop as if to make up for lost time).   
  
Krloia stood next to them, one hand resting on the small of her husbands back, the other gently curled around Keith's head, where Akira's arm pillowed it.   
  
The song seemed to work, and after a few verses Keith smiled and gurgled along to the tune. He lifted small hands and tugged at the curly beard Akira wore. He laughed and pulled on it again, not at all alarmed by his father's odd appearance.   
  
“So children are supposed to like this...Santa?” Krolia asked, casting a sidelong look at Akira in his costume.   
  
“Yeah. It's a fun fairy tale for them. I guess it'll make more sense when Keith's a bit older and he understands that sorta thing too.”  
  
Krolia still wasn't sure, but it was somewhat of a relief to learn that Santa was only fiction, and Keith seemed to enjoy it. He certainly liked the beard at least, which he was still tugging on, giggling as Akira pulled silly faces at him.   
  
“I suppose I will have to wait until he's older,” she mused. They had many more Christmases to come after all.   



End file.
